GB603482A - Modified interpolymers - Google Patents

Abstract

Modified mono-olefin hydrocarbon/carbon monoxide interpolymers are made by contacting them at a temperature between 20 DEG C. and the decomposition temperature with a basic alkali or alkaline earth metal compound until their oxygen content is reduced by at least 5 per cent or their iodine number has increased to at least 25. The interpolymer may comprise also propylene or diethyl maleate. Basic compounds specified are sodium, potassium and lithium carbonates and alcoholates, sodium and potassium hydroxides and acetates, di- and trisodium phosphates. The basic compound may be added to the interpolymer by mixing their solutions, e.g. in dioxane or 1,3-dioxolane, by adding the solid to a suspension of the interpolymer, e.g. in film form, in a solution of the basic compound, e.g. in methanol or water. The reaction mixture dissolved in water may be acidified with acetic, hydrochloric, sulphuric or phosphoric acids to precipitate the product. Fillers, e.g. wood flour, pigments, dyes and plasticisers may be incorporated with the product which may be used to form moulded articles and films, or blended with formaldehyde and a catalyst, e.g. maleic acid, to form thermosetting compositions which in solution in ethylene dichloride or in aqueous dispersion may be used as a bonding agent for plywood or laminated paper and fabric. Specifications 583,172 and 603,481 are referred to. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 describes also boiling a film made from an ethylene/propylene/carbon monoxide interpolymer in a methanol solution of potassium hydroxide, whereby it is rendered insoluble in chloroform and dioxane. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.